Bella Poarch, the social media sensation who's taking the music industry by storm. She graces the cover of this month's issue of NYLON Manila and shows she's more than just a social media star, but a serious artist ready to show the world what she's got. In the feature, Bella shares her personal story of what they called A Series Of Unfortunate Events, but also how she was able to rise above it all. Here's some highlights from the issue.

Bella treats music and songwriter as her love letter to herself and the art.
If you didn't know, Bella has been singing all her life. She can belt out a Beyonce song or a Tagalog song like Hanggang Ngayon. However, creating her own music has been a different journey than performing other artists' songs. Bella shares how it's a personal journey for her to make music as it's been a way to cope with anxiety She shared, “Music has always been a huge part of my life. It calms me like it when I’m anxious. It helps me a lot and now that I’m making music, it helps me express myself.”

She wants to help bring mental health awareness to people
Bella doesn't shy away from sharing her traumatic past, but she does admit that it's hard for her to open up to people. She wants to send the message that it's okay to ask for help and tell people you need help. Bella also had music to turn to and now wants to share the same message with her audience. She held on to hope and wants her audience to do the same. “...I feel happy that I get to share that to my audience. And sharing music, I feel like it’s the best way to share a message.”

Bella grew and found more of herself when she enlisted for the U.S. Navy
Although her time in the Navy was far from perfect, she painted a picture of her grit and determination by sharing, “The Navy taught me a lot of things. You can be the tiniest person in the room, and you can still carry the biggest... machine guns." Bella does suffer from PTSD from her time in service, but she was able to hang on to her music. After signing up for the division choir, performing as a soprano for boot camp ceremonies, it gave her a sense of peace and happiness. “It was just a whole day of me singing…I was really, really happy.” 

Perfection is overrated, Bella aims to be herself
With all the followers, views, and hits, Bella admits there's pressure in getting things "perfect." However, she's now aiming to dismantle the concept of perfection. “When I put out music or when I post a picture, I just want it to be me. If I’m myself, that’s so much better than trying to be perfect, because we can’t please everybody. And what is even perfect, you know? Someone could see you as a different person.”

Her proudest moment so far is still being alive
Bella Poarch shows everyone that although life can throw things your way, it's still possible to overcome it all and thrive. She won't be going down without kicking, screaming or in this case singing, and making sure she tried her hardest. Now, coming out of it on the other side, she looks to also encourage others to do the same. “It makes me feel happy that I have young audiences and they can look up to me. I want to be a good example, and yeah, that’s why I open up a lot when it comes to mental health and that kind of stuff. And that’s why I put out important messages through my music."

Catch the whole feature on nylonmanila.com where Bella talks about loads more like what's next for her and she continues to tell her story to help others.

Cover Photo Credit: NYLON Manila

Inigo Pascual is so talented in his own right. He sings, dances, acts, and writes to name a few of his many talents. So what else is Inigo aiming for in his young, but already accomplished career? Right after Bretman Rock's fabulous cover in July, Inigo takes a stab at it and sits with NYLON Manila to chat music and fashion. Inigo talks about his journey as an artist, what's keeping him inspired, and how he pays it forward to others. If you think you know Inigo Pascual, there's more to know!

Inigo's rise started with the OPM hit, "Dahil Sa'yo" back in 2016, but he's been grinding towards his dream long before then. The talkative, hugger shares the struggles of finding his purpose and the beginnings of his career when he was still Stateside. His go-getter personality and contagious energy allowed him to try different things like sports, but music never left him. Music became his safety net or something he kept coming back to. Inigo honed his energy towards performing and realized early on his niche and confidence was in theater arts.

Finding your calling is only half the story, how to get to life's grand plan is another undertaking. As an artist starting out, it was starting to look up and stars were aligning for Inigo until things fell through from not being able to audition for X Factor to passing on a boyband project. However, things always happen for a reason but that doesn't mean you can't be sad about it. Inigo recalls, “after that didn’t work out, I would cry myself every night when I was in Tennessee, I just felt like I didn’t belong. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing.” Eventually he found himself back in the Philippines except this time as an actor, but like he said music wasn't going anywhere. While music was already a part of his life, his source of happiness had to take a back seat to carve space for himself in showbiz. 

His musical opportunities grew after the release of "Dahil Sa'yo" which led him to make his first album. Now you see his growth in his 2021 album, "Options" and the latest track "Finding Neverland." He was performing onstage, writing his own music just like he always hoped. “With music…It was always so fun to do it. I didn’t feel like I was scared to do it. I was always in that space of experimenting; in terms of what I can do with my music.” Music has helped him grow up and really find himself.

So how has he been dealing with the pandemic? Creating music of course, but also loads of video calls with friends and family. Inigo shares the journey of creating "Options." “With this album, I mean, we all went through so much. It was two years in the making...but we didn’t stop." Don't stop, won't stop, am I right? Lots of patience went into making this album, but Inigo also realizes he was in a fortunate position to complete the project. To that, he's opened himself up to collaborating with other artists and simply sharing space or advice. “For them to kind of choose me to be able to say, you know, advice to them, it kind of made me feel like okay, I’m doing something right."

It's all a reality now for Inigo. He's performed at the Staples Center for Filipino heritage night, his songs are catching waves on KISS FM, and he's collaborating with some of the best in the game. Would he ever thought it'd happen? Sure, but it still blows this 23-year-old's mind that it did. “It’s a crazy feeling to be honest, to be able to do these things like right now." Inigo takes and enjoys the ride of life. Sky's the limit for him, but Inigo keeps his next project on the down low and leaves readers with, "it's always good to challenge yourself."

Cover Photo Credit: NYLON Manila Facebook